Brad Goode: Tight Like This

Chicago-native trumpeter Brad Goode is steeped in the tradition. His previous Delmark offering, Nature Boy (2008), was very well-received for its conservative yet creative approach toward standards in a quartet format. He returns, delving deeper into jazz styles of the 1920s and '30s, updating them in a wonderfully lo-fi way. Tight Like This celebrates the early trumpet pioneers, most notably Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke.

"Changes," composed in 1927 by Walter Donaldson ("My Blue Heaven" and "Yes Sir, That's My Baby"), was intended as a vehicle for cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, while the latter was playing in the Paul Whiteman orchestra. Complex and moody, the piece was a perfect piece for Beiderbecke who, though an autodidact, did play and compose with a futuristic sophistication. Goode gives a quartet-distilled reading to the piece, capturing both the new of his trademark Polytonal System of Harmony and the old of the antique melody rendered avant-garde. The latter is manifested in Adrean Farrugia's piano solo, and drummer Anthony Lee's interlude before the coda, as Goode produces one of the most satisfying jazz releases of the year.